Chapter 43: Incubus Ascension
Stefan’s POV
Belladonna stood beside her horse, one hand resting on its neck, her eyes tilted up toward the sky like she was reading the position of the sun for the exact time.
She looked patient, surprisingly patient, which was the complete opposite of the storm she had just unleashed across her own camp ten minutes ago.
I stood a distance off, watching her, trying to read whatever was going on behind that unreadable face.
Warriors were still tearing through supplies all around us, flipping bedrolls, shaking out sacks, checking the same corners twice out of pure desperation.
"That’s futile," I muttered under my breath, watching one of them dig through a pile of firewood like the gold bird might’ve hidden itself among the logs. It was ash by now. Actual ash, scattered somewhere in a dead fire pit I’d personally lit it in. No amount of searching was bringing that thing back.
My brain kept circling the same problem, though - how the hell was I going to get onto that horse. Two conversations in and Belladonna had shut the idea down flat, and I was running out of angles to work.
"What do I-" I was going to start nursing another idea when a sharp sound cut through the noise of the camp.
I looked in the direction of it and saw it was Belladonna whistling.
Every warrior within earshot dropped what they were doing and converged on her at once, a tight cluster of bodies and quick exchanged words I couldn’t catch a syllable of. I strained to listen anyway, useless as that was.
The next thing I saw, Belladonna was climbing onto her horse.
The rest of the warriors followed suit fast - some pairing up two to a horse, others mounting alone. Jonquil rode solo, spine straight as ever. Zinnia too. Lily, a few others I didn’t recognize by name yet.
And I stood there, watching it all happen, genuinely convinced I’d just lost this round. Figured that was it. Figured I’d be walking to town after all, trailing behind like the rest of the slaves, mission failed before it even really started.
Then Belladonna’s voice cut through the noise, aimed straight at me.
"You."
I looked up.
She was staring down at me from atop her horse, her expression looked as if it was carved from stone.
"Two hours," she began sharply.
"You will speak to your magic, work whatever spell you claim to have, while riding with me. If my Wing is not returned by then, you are dead meat."
I swallowed hard, my throat suddenly tight. The threat itself didn’t shake me half as much as the timeline attached to it. Two hours.
Two hours to somehow produce a golden bird that had melted into slag inside a slave’s cooking fire an hour and a half ago. I had no magic. I had no plan. I had absolutely nothing except my own mouth and whatever I could improvise between here and wherever this "town" actually was.
"Climb," Belladonna said, already turning her attention forward.
"Which position?" I asked, buying myself half a second to think. "Front, probably. I would need access to the band, work the magic properly." I added.
"No slave," she said, without even glancing back at me, "rides in front of me. The sight of you that close would be torture on my eyes."
I actually laughed out low before I could stop myself. The audacity on this woman? Genuinely unbelievable.
Where I came from, women begged to let me ride with them when I’m done showing them who Stefan Sinclair was.
"No worries, I’m going to make your mouth stop running, soon. Very soon enough." I promised her mentally.
Then I climbed anyway, because saying no wasn’t an option anymore, not with a death sentence hanging over my head and a horse already agreeing to carry me. I hauled myself up behind her, settling awkwardly onto the saddle.
"Space!" Belladonna snapped immediately, feeling me shift too close. "Do not clutch me. If you do, I shall throw you from this horse myself, and I promise you the ground shall not be gentle."
I shifted back fast, putting a careful gap between us, my hands hovering awkwardly with nowhere safe to land.
She nudged the horse forward, and it kicked off into motion.
And the System decided that was what the right time to chime in, loud and sudden enough that I nearly jumped clean off the saddle.
[HIDDEN MISSION COMPLETED.]
Rewards Issued:
• Incubus Attribute Unlocked: Charm
• +5 Charm
• +200 EXP
• +5 MA
ANALYZING REWARD COMPATIBILITY...
Compatibility confirmed.
The Host has met the minimum requirements.
Synchronizing...
Synchronizing...
Synchronization Complete.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
**INCUBUS ASCENSION PATH**
Status: Activated
The Host has taken the first step toward becoming an Incubus.
An Incubus is not born.
An Incubus is cultivated.
New mission classification unlocked.
**Incubus Development Arcs**
Future Incubus growth will be achieved through mandatory Development Quests.
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**Development Arc I**
**Presence**
Purpose:
Teach the Host to command attention rather than demand it.
An Incubus who cannot command attention can never command desire.
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**Incubus Development Quest**
Mission Objective:
Make General Belladonna look back at you for at least one second.
Time Limit: 00:01:00
Rewards:
• Charm +5
• EXP +200
• Miracle Authority +5
Penalty:
The Host’s ability to kiss will be sealed for 24 hours.
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Mandatory Quest Initiated.
Declining is unavailable.
Failure will trigger the stated penalty.
Countdown Commencing...
00:01:00
00:00:59
00:00:58...
My eyes went wide, scanning the wall of text scrolling past faster than I could fully process it. Incubus? Ascension? Development Arc? My brain snagged hard on the word *cultivated*, some deep unease crawling up my spine at the implication buried inside it.
"Wait." I stared straight ahead at nothing, mouth already forming the question before I’d even finished reading.
"Are you actually growing me into an Incubus? Is that what this is? Is that what’s been happening this whole-"
The countdown didn’t care about my crisis.
00:00:47
Then Belladonna nudged the horse into a full gallop.
Wind slammed into my face instantly, hard enough to steal the rest of my sentence right out of my mouth. My eyes watered, stinging against the rush of air, the world blurring into streaks of green and brown on either side of us.
My hands hovered uselessly at my sides, desperate to grab something, anything, and finding absolutely nothing I was allowed to touch.
00:00:41